CBSE plans to send answer sheets on DigiLocker along with marksheets from next year

NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is planning a major change in the board examination result process from next year, with students likely to receive scanned copies of their answer sheets directly on DigiLocker along with their marksheets and certificates.

Sources said the move is being considered as part of a wider push towards greater transparency and digitisation in the examination system following the controversy surrounding this year’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) process.

At present, CBSE students only receive their digital marksheets, migration certificates and passing certificates through DigiLocker after the declaration of results. Students who wish to access their answer sheets have to separately apply for scanned copies or verification after the results are announced and pay the prescribed fee.

Under the proposed system, students may automatically get access to their evaluated answer sheets through DigiLocker itself without going through a separate application process.

Current system requires separate applications
Currently, the post-result process involves multiple stages. After results are declared, students first apply for verification of marks if they suspect discrepancies. Only after that stage are they allowed to request scanned copies of answer books. Re-evaluation applications are permitted later within a separate window.

This process often stretches over several weeks and generates lakhs of applications every year.

Sources indicated that CBSE internally believes direct access to answer sheets may reduce confusion, improve trust in the evaluation process and minimise disputes linked to marks verification and re-evaluation.

The proposal has gained momentum after this year’s OSM-related controversy, where several students alleged that the scanned answer sheets provided to them during re-evaluation were blurred, incomplete or contained missing supplementary pages. In some cases, students even claimed they received copies that did not match their handwriting.

The controversy triggered widespread criticism from students, parents and teachers and led to questions regarding the implementation of large-scale digital evaluation.

Push for greater transparency after OSM controversy
According to sources, CBSE is now examining how answer sheet access can be integrated directly into DigiLocker in a more streamlined manner.

Technical discussions are reportedly underway regarding data storage capacity, server management, scanning quality standards and cyber security safeguards, considering the enormous volume of answer sheets generated during board examinations every year.

Officials are also understood to be studying whether students should receive complete scanned answer books immediately with results or whether access should remain time-bound through secure login systems.

The Board is believed to be exploring ways to ensure that scanned copies are uploaded in standardised quality so that complaints regarding blurred pages or unreadable content do not recur.

Digital reform with operational challenges
Sources said the larger objective behind the proposal is to strengthen confidence in the examination system by making evaluation records more directly accessible to students.

Education experts, however, point out that the success of such a system would depend heavily on technical preparedness and consistency in scanning quality across evaluation centres.

CBSE has not yet made any official announcement regarding the rollout timeline, but sources indicated that the Board is actively working on the framework and the proposal may be introduced in phases beginning with the 2027 board examination cycle.

If implemented, the move would mark one of the biggest changes in CBSE’s post-result transparency mechanism in recent years.